The Case Every Man Should Be Talking About

There is a huge case here in Oklahoma right now that has literally had me in tears followed by anger at the whole system. The case I am speaking of is the Baby Veronica custody battle. She really isn't a baby any longer, but is now 4 years old and is currently living with her biological father's parents who were awarded guardianship by the Cherokee Nation.

Let me back up and give some background on the case and why it should be so important to all men, be they fathers or not. I am starting to find that this is only one sad story among many and it is a frightening trend that has mainly slipped under the radar until now, at least as far as I have seen.

The Background:

September 2009 - Veronica was born in Oklahoma and taken to South Carolina without her father’s knowledge.

January 2010 – Six days prior to leaving for the Iraq War, father signs what he believes are documents granting full custody to birth mother Christina Maldanado. Immediately after signing, Brown is informed by attorneys for the prospective adoptive couple that Maldanado has also signed away parental rights and Veronica has been living in South Carolina. This is the first time Brown learns his daughter is out of state.

January 2010 – One day later, father approaches JAG officer on military base to fight for custody of Veronica. Dusten Brown deploys to Iraq five days later.

January 2010 – November 2010 – Dusten Brown spends 11 months in combat in Iraq with his Army unit. Brown earns several medals for his bravery in combat.

June 2011 – Brown receives an honorable discharge from the Army, but continues to serve his country in an Army National Guard reserve unit.

December 2011 – South Carolina family court finds Veronica’s interests are best served with her father. Veronica returns with her family to Oklahoma.

July 2012 – The South Carolina Supreme Court upholds the custody decision by South Carolina family court.

January - U.S. Supreme Court agrees to hear an appeal from the pre-adoptive parents.

April - U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments in the case.

June 25 - U.S. Supreme Court rules the Indian Child Welfare Act doesn't apply to Dusten, but also doesn’t preclude other family members from gaining custody of Veronica under ICWA. The court ruling did not state that the pre-adoptive parents regain custody. SCOTUS sends case back to lower courts for a rehearing of Veronica’s best interests.

July 17 – Without a hearing of Veronica’s best interests, South Carolina Supreme Court rules that Brown’s rights be terminated and the adoption finalized by family court. This is a curious reversal, since the court previously found, based on the same evidence, that Veronica was best suited to live with her biological father, Dusten Brown.

July 22 – Brown departs for 30 days mandatory military training with his National Guard unit. South Carolina courts do not consider this when ordering Veronica be taken from her family to South Carolina.

July 31 - South Carolina family court finalizes the adoption and orders Veronica sent away from her home and the only family she knows.

Keep Veronica Home Mods note- I know this is a large block of copied text, but I hope you will allow it to stay. It is the most condensed version of events I have found on this complicated case. Thanks.

To finish up on that list of events, the South Carolina court has issued an arrest warrant for Mr. Brown now since he has failed to turn over his daughter to the Capobiancos who were the pre-adoptive parents. He has posted bond and now they are under a gag order while the Cherokee Tribal council has their professionals speaking with Veronica.

Mr. Brown had filed for custody as soon as he learned of the adoption and realized what he signed was not the agreed upon removal of parental rights, but in fact adoption paperwork. Now let's not throw in the towel here for a few reasons. 1 being that in Cherokee culture, it is not uncommon to allow family members to raise children, 2 being that he trusted that she was going to raise their child and 3 being that he was basically tricked into signing the paperwork, something that I am finding is not that uncommon. The Capobiancos had baby Veronica until she was 2 years old even after the initial court ruling that she be returned to her father when she was 4 months of age. She has been living with her biological father, his fiancée, and their children for the last 2 years, as well as having formed bonds with her paternal grandparents and half sister from Brown's ex-wife.

More info is now starting to come forward about Veronica's birthmother and her motivations in the adoption. The first link I am going to supply is biased since it is coming from the tribe, but if true, it's pretty telling about why the birth mother wanted the adoption to go through so badly. She had even informed the adoption agency and the Capobiancos that if Dusten Brown found out, he would fight for custody.

Over the years, Brown has never gone on the record about his ex-fiance and has never publicly spoken ill of his daughter's biological mother. But a review of court documents in Oklahoma and in interviews with those who knew Maldonado prior to and during her engagement and pregnancy with Dusten Brown, reveal a portrait of a woman with a history of turmoil in her relationships, featuring restraining orders, lawsuits, Court Appointed Special Advocates and ongoing custody and child support disputes with her two older childrens' father.

“She told me she 'had a plan (for getting out of debt),'” he said at the time. “But I didn't know that the plan was to put Veronica up for adoption. I offered to give her everything I had, but she didn't want it.”

Some Disturbing Facts about Veronica's Birth Mother

So what they are claiming is that Maldanado, Veronica's birth mother, was basically hiding the adoption from Brown in order to gather enough money from the Capobiancos to pay off her debts, then adopt her out to them to avoid her having to pay any more in child support for another child. Brown, on the other hand, has been fighting since day one to gain custody of his daughter once he found out about Maldanado's plan to adopt her out. By his accounts, he and his family both tried to support Maldanado throughout the pregnancy, but she refused to speak to them. He was initially trying to speed up their wedding date so that Maldanado and Veronica would both be taken care of by the VA if he died in Iraq, but that is when she cut him off and pushed for him to terminate his rights. In finally gave in to her requests because he thought that was going to be the best thing for Veronica since he was about to be deployed for a year.

I know I am being biased here, but I am so flippin mad about this whole thing. When did adoption become about finding children for infertile couples, instead of being about finding loving homes for children who don't have one? I have friends on all different sides of the adoption issue, ones that have been adopted, ones that have adopted, and ones that gave their little ones up for adoption, so I am very ok with legal adoptions that are for the right reasons, but to rip a child from their real parents who obviously want them, love them, and are capable of raising them is just wrong.

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The reason I say that this should be what all men are talking about is because this is just one of several cases that I have found while researching this topic online the last few days.

Here is Anthony Lingle who had been fighting for custody of his daughter Hailey after she was placed for adoption without his consent Bring Hailey Home

Noah learned of his daughter's birth 3 weeks after she was born and placed for adoption, he is currently trying to gather money to fight for custody Noah and Hope

John Wyatt, fighting for custody of his daughter who was given up for adoption without his consent John Wyatt

And here is Drill Sergeant Terry Achane who finally won custody of his daughter who was put up for adoption by her mother while Achane was stationed in another state. It took him 2 years of fighting to finally win the battle to take her home. Terry Achane

These are just a few of the many that have turned up over the last couple years.


There seems to be a frightening trend in the adoption industry to try and wiggle around notifying fathers of their children being placed up for adoption. Could it be that the supply is just not meeting the demand? I mean if you have a very wealthy couple over here wanting to adopt, and a mother over here that doesn't want her child but that pesky father might get in the way, then what is an agency to do?

In short, particularly where the adoptive couple is wealthy, there’s a pot of money there for the taking, and everyone in on the deal wants some. Mothers know that placing a child for adoption is a sure way to get a larger piece of the pie than many have ever seen. Attorneys and adoption agencies are happy to facilitate the “transaction,” and adoptive parents have no reason to do anything but turn a blind eye. It’s the buying and selling of children, particularly newborns, and it happens often in this country.

Needless to say, a father who wants to care for his child just gums up the works. After all, if the adoption doesn’t get finalized, a lot of people don’t get paid, and if they do, not nearly as much as if it did. So it’s in everyone’s interest, as they see it, to keep Dad out of the picture altogether. To that end, putative father registry laws get passed and fathers’ rights to their children get placed in mothers’ hands.

So what is a punitive father registry?

Putative father registries are the short way to keep a father from asserting his parental rights to his child. They take the fact that adult men know that sex can produce babies and pretend that it always does. That way the laws creating putative father registries can require every unmarried man who has sex with a woman to file a form with the appropriate state department claiming paternity of the child, whether there is one or not. Failure to do so means he won’t be allowed to contest his child’s adoption, if the mother wishes that to happen.

Fathers and Family

I also wanted to add to this that I am a woman. I am also a woman who knows how incredibly important my husband is in the lives of our children. That this is going on and women are able to hand over these babies without the fathers being notified, or being tricked into signing over rights, or not being able to gain custody over an outside adoptive family is nauseating. How do we start to right this wrong? Do you guys even think this is wrong?

A few more links in support of Veronica:

[snipped]

Standing our Ground For Veronica Brown FB Page www.facebook.com...


~OkieDokie

I did not read your whole wall of text, but yes, it is shameful and that child need to stay with her biological dad. No question about this, in my way of thinking.

I'm just glad you are keeping this alive with another thread.

Sorry adoptive parents, but she is his blood, HIS blood, All other details do not come close to the reality that he realized he'd lost his child from a few months old and wanted her back.

The simple, cruel and sobering fact is that the family courts and family law provide for this sort of mistreatment of men when it comes to issues such as "Fathers rights".

You can accidently get a girl pregnant, if she decides to have it, your stuck for 18 years busting out that cold hard cash. If she decides she doesn't wan't it and you wan't it more than anything in the whole world, guess what? Get over it, it's getting scraped out.

Divorced? Dating and break up with kids? They go with mom and her court appointed representation that often times in cases of child support, paternity or other issues comes free to them. Want to fight it? No problem, come up with 5 thousand dollars as a retainer and hope she doesn't drag it out for more than 3 court dates because thats all you have retained.

You can blame it on men in general though. Women are much better at banding together and lobbying to change laws and apply pressure, that is exactly why the laws are shaped they way they are because men tend to just fall in line and women tend to annoy the holy hell out of anyone and everyone when something doesn't go their way. It's not a sexiest statement, it's reality. By majority, excluding the exceptions to that law.

Balls in their court guy, get in line or get organizing to change it, it's not going to change itself.

Evil knows no boundaries.

I learned to keep it in my pants until I found someone that wanted to stay with me for a long time because I got a girl pregnant and she aborted against my begging, crying, pleading, and desperation that I would do everything to make everything perfect for them.

Celibacy became the cornerstone of my life until I met my wife.

Originally posted by TarzanBeta
Evil knows no boundaries.

I learned to keep it in my pants until I found someone that wanted to stay with me for a long time because I got a girl pregnant and she aborted against my begging, crying, pleading, and desperation that I would do everything to make everything perfect for them.

Celibacy became the cornerstone of my life until I met my wife.

In all fairness, look at the divorce rate in this country. Very few men said "I do" with the intention of getting a divorce, yourself included. Marriage doesn't protect you from this sort of railroading, it simply eases you into it.

reply to post by Helious


Boy did you hit a nerve with everything you wrote in that post. You are absolutely right on every point. I see the courts supporting mothers over fathers just within my circle of friends and family. Now some of the fathers, I will admit, they should not have custody, but when you have a man begging and fighting with everything he's got to keep his child from total strangers trying to take her, there is a problem.

~OkieDokie

reply to post by TarzanBeta


What a horrible horrible story, and I am so sorry for your loss. Not much to add to that, it is wrong on so many levels.

~OkieDokie

reply to post by OkieDokie


I'm familiar with this case, just because I heard it on Fox news - which gave a VERY slanted story towards the adoptive parents.

Men, and boys, need to understand what could happen if they sleep with girls/women. They and their potential child's life could be ruined.

Adoptive parents need to understand what kind of filthy women they could be dealing with when the offer money to someone to get an infant.

I'm a woman - and I'm here to tell you there are a lot of very evil women out there. And the court always happens to side with them.

Men really need to protect themselves against potentially very evil women.

My god, this is shocking and absolutely wrong on so many levels :S

I cant even believe it has to be a court battle! If the biological parent wants custody and is obviously fit, then why is it even up for debate!?

Thank you for giving this story the attention it deserves. If only the media would do more to show the bias against fathers.
This really makes me worry, being a mother of boys, and soon to be a grandmother. Not that I believe this will happen in our case, but of course there is always the chance.
All I know is, I would certainly put myself in the poor house if necessary, to help my sons fight.

There really does need to be more protection in place, for the men that actually want to step up and be a part of the children's life.

Originally posted by OkieDokie

January 2010 – Six days prior to leaving for the Iraq War, father signs what he believes are documents granting full custody to birth mother Christina Maldanado. Immediately after signing, Brown is informed by attorneys for the prospective adoptive couple that Maldanado has also signed away parental rights and Veronica has been living in South Carolina. This is the first time Brown learns his daughter is out of state.

The whole thing seems a mess. And I agree Fathers are seen as second class citizens in these things. (I have some personal experience from my Brother and Sister in law's custody/divorce battle.)

One thing I don't understand, and one which may have a bearing on the case, is why was the father signing away custody?

Seems like the King Solomon level decision from the ass presiding over the court should have been along the lines of "The girl stays with her family, who have been raising her, the birth mother is ordered to repay any monetary compensation she got for selling her child, and the adoptive couple need to continue their quest for a child elsewhere."

Of course this is a pipe dream considering the almost invisible degree of intelligence most of Amerioca's courts posess.

reply to post by BritofTexas


Mr. Brown was engaged to the mother of the child and when he pressed her to move up the wedding date in case something happened to him in Iraq, she cut ties with him completely. He had tried to support her and the child any way he could, but she refused it. As he was nearing his time of deployment, she was pressing him to relinquish his parental rights. He finally agreed, thinking it was in Veronica's best interest since he would be gone for the next year. At this point he had no idea about her plans to place Veronica up for adoption.

When the mother's attorney approached him 6 days prior to leaving, he thought he was signing over his rights. After signing, the attorney informed him this it was in fact consent for adoption so that is why he immediately went to military personnel to try and undo what had just happened and try to gain custody of Veronica.

This paper is the main thing that they are able to hold against him. His argument is that it was not informed consent since he had no idea about the adoption.

~OkieDokie

reply to post by BritofTexas


I'm with you -- I don't understand why he thought it was better to give up parental rights. Lots of fathers go off to war - they don't all sign paperwork to legally give up their parental rights. It makes no sense. What did he think was going to happen when he returned? Did he think he could just sign some more papers to reinstate his rights? Don't get me wrong - I believe if the father is fit and he wants the child, he should get her, but he made this harder on himself by what he did.

reply to post by kaylaluv


Yep.

I don't understand the idea of giving up his Paternal rights, for ever, just because he is being deployed.

While personally I believe a child is better off (in most cases) with a parent. If he was willing to give her up to the Mother, why does he care where she goes now?

The most important thing to learn from here is do not ever take anybodies word at anything you sign without reading it your self, or in legal matters paying a lawyer to look over it. As a father who spent the last 18 years paying child support(never late, never missed) I wish things were different. I could have provided a much better life for my daughter then my ex did, but courts wouldn't even consider it. Took nearly 10 years to even get joint custody, and that was only after state law changed. Even though she is off in college, I still carry her insurance, cell phone, car insurance and send her money when I can.

The courts in this country are dirty, rarely uphold the law, and if given a chance will take custody from both parents and give it to the state, just to be jerks and get their kickbacks.